The DVD underneath and the two VHS cassettes at the top.
I was eleven years old when I saw Titanic for the first time. Now I have three copies of the film in total, the DVD, which I bought in stores for some odd reason even though I already had it (you know, just an eleven-year-old buying a movie I already have, no big deal). I also have part one and two in VHS cassettes because the movie is too long and overwhelming for one cassette. Now that I think of it, it is kind of strange that a movie based on a real-life tragedy influenced my pre-teen years so much. The thing is, it wasn't the tragedy but the film overall. Yes, I was a pretty nerdy kid who loved reading books about the history of the RMS Titanic but I was also eleven and was obsessed with celebrities and tales of romance.
One of the most influential things (or persons) in Titanic was Kate Winslet. As a pre-teen, I looked up to her when it came to beauty. I remember thinking how blessed I would be as an adult if I did end up having big breasts like her. Winslet also wasn't super skinny like most actresses, she was thick. At that time, I was transitioning from a skinny girl to a chubby pre-teen. To this day, I still can't truly say if my body was average or chubby because of the mixed comments I received from others. All I knew was that Kate Winslet wasn't super skinny and neither was I. That was super comforting. I remember attempting to put my hair back just like hers (the way she had it during that scene where Jack tells her, "sooner or later that fire that I love about you, Rose... that fire's gonna burn out." And Jack Dawson, I remember hoping that I would someday marry someone like him. His noble qualities were what drew me to him and the way he cared so much about Rose although he barely knew her. At some point, I thought the two actors were actually together in real life. It makes me so darn happy to know that they are actually best friends and Titanic was what brought them together. I remember badly wanting a necklace that looked like the heart of the ocean. I somehow ended up getting a small cheap version of it and wearing it to school proudly every day. For my school assignments, I would use any opportunity I had just to write about Titanic. On my twelfth birthday, I had the movie playing in the living room. On my thirteenth birthday, I was so excited to finally be thirteen because I was finally at the recommended age to watch Titanic. What a perk of being thirteen, huh? I also want to add that I still have a Pop Quiz book on Leonardo Dicaprio (lol). I remember thinking how lucky Cora was because she was the little girl in the film who got to dance with Jack! Over time, it has been a pleasure seeing articles and pictures of Titanic or of Leo and Kate's relationship. I remember seeing a funny meme of Cal holding a child saying, "I have a child" with the heading of "Men who don't see their children claiming to be fathers during tax season." It doesn't make me feel so alone when I realize that many people also love this movie. Maybe there is an eleven-year-old who is currently obsessed with the film right now, who knows. Now that I'm twenty-three years old, I may not have Kate's exact body, but I sure do have the parts I desired when I was younger (wink). I'm definitely not married but I sure do have close friendships like Kate and Leo's, and I do know guys with Jack's noble qualities. I watch the movie twice a year the most, or I watch it in parts. And yes, I still know all the lines. (You jump, I jump, right?). I still listen to "My Heart Will Go On" and to "Rose's theme" whenever I'm writing. Just like Kate Winslet told Leo during the 2009 Golden Globes, "I've loved you for thirteen years" and indeed I have loved this film for thirteen years.
I also went to watch the film when it was back in theatres in 2012, the 100 year anniversary of the tragedy.
"I don't think of you as attractive" my ex-boyfriend from almost a year ago confessed to me in his broken English, a day after he broke up with me. Of course, through a text message because our relationship was not important enough for him to talk about in person.
I asked him, "What do you mean?" like why on earth would you date someone you don't find attractive in the first place? or did he just not know the right words in English? He said, "I don't really mean that. I do think you're pretty but you could be prettier." I asked him, "how can I be prettier, then?" When I asked that, I wasn't planning to do whatever he said in order for him to get back with me. It was very clear that we weren't the right person for one another. I was way more mature than he was, and was smart enough to know that he still needed to learn a lot, including emotional intelligence.
He told me how in our relationship he wanted to take care of me by going to the gym with me so I can exercise and eat healthily. I thought it strange because I really did not need anyone taking care of me other than myself. I know his intentions were good in saying that but I also thought, doesn't this sound like he's being overprotective? I would do exercise at home and my mom saw how dedicated I was to exercising that she bought me a gym membership for my birthday. So now we love to go exercising together and we are both at a much better shape than we were before and we have started to enjoy it.
Of course, I went all Elle Woods (Legally Blonde) on him and wanted to show him that I too could get fit if I wanted to and I could be healthy. At some point, I ended up blocking him, after seeing him going on dates with another girl, who oddly enough had a similar body type to mine (maybe he wanted to try "taking care" of somebody else, then again, in that case, become a personal trainer at a gym, there's a career change idea!). Things ended up getting creepier when his friends would take pictures of me on the train, but that's another story. I ended up blocking him on all social media sites for that reason, and because you just really need to get some people out of your life and move on. I blocked him because I was done trying to prove something to someone, and no he did not tell me he was sorry or anything like Warner did to Elle Woods. So I continued to exercise because I actually enjoyed it and because it did wonders to my anxiety.
I didn't write "journey" on this title because it's definitely not as brilliant as other people's weight loss journeys, losing ten pounds, or twenty, and going on all these fancy diets and such. If anything, I've been more mindful of what I eat-- okay that's not true, I do enjoy eating pizza and I even got to try taco bell with a more recent ex. Our relationship may not have ended well but at least he thought my body was flawless. If you decide to get into a relationship, please find someone who loves you despite your body type! I'll admit, that I've only lost 6 pounds, but it's a good start in my opinion. I used to drink lots of energy drinks in college, which contributed to my weight gain. Although it's a small achievement, I'm proud of myself and motivated to continue.
As for him, I do hope he realizes that skinny isn't the equivalent of beautiful. I'm not saying skinny people aren't beautiful, I have many thin friends who really are, but his point of view was that in order to be "attractive" you need to be one body type. Like I said, he still needed a lot to learn and I realized, I didn't want to be the one to teach him everything. In a way, I'm grateful that he told me the truth about how he felt about me, and that gave me the motivation to prove him wrong and to show that I had the potential to be healthy. Maybe I need to be more disciplined if I want to have a skinny body type, but if I do lose more weight at some point, it's going to be because I want to. Besides exercise, sometimes fitness involves getting out of an unhealthy relationship. It doesn't mean spending more than three hours at the gym, it means going at your own pace, and knowing that one must not compare themselves to others.
My interview with Larry is both a cultural presentation for my French class and the first post of an interview series for my blog. Enjoy our conversation and if you're interested, feel free to purchase his book, and support this young artist who is in the early stages of his career.
Angie: Thank you so much for being here and for doing this interview, can you please introduce yourself to us, and by us, I mean, whoever reads my blog, and my French class. What is your philosophy as a writer, like what are some of the main themes in your poetry and who do you write for?
Larry: So, I’m Larry, I’m 20 years old, and first, I’m a student in Architecture, and I started to write poetry because I had a lot of things, a lot of hard things in me, and a lot of people have the same things in their heart and they don’t say it so I started to search for a way to express my feelings and I didn’t find it. Sometimes I would draw but I didn’t find it until after a few things that I will explain after if you want, then I found that it was poetry. A: So when did you start labeling yourself as a poet? When did you start saying, “I am a poet” and how did you know you were a poet? L: I started to write poetry, because one of my favorite singers, Gaël Faye, he is a writer and singer too, so I recommend you to read his novel, “Petite Ville” “Small Country” is the title in English, “Small Country” by Gaël Faye, and he won one of the best prizes in France and he sang a song that says, “Aux armesmiraculeuses on a lu Césaire et Prévert on viendravousfaire la guerreavec la parole poudrière”. So I read Césaire and Prévert, he come from Martinique and he’s a poet, Martinique is a French country outside of France, a part of France, but outside France, because France has a lot of countries. So he said that, and I heard that lyric and I decide to read Césaire and Prévert, Césaire the French poet. So I start to read Césaire it was too hard for me so after I read Prévert I understood more, it was easy. And then I said so, maybe I need to write more poems and that’s how I started. I didn’t start as an artist or poet, I just read and actually a few weeks ago, Kevin Coval, the one who I was talking about, I took pictures, and I came to take pictures of the group of poets from Film Chicago at Milwaukee Avenue. I went to take pictures of the group of poets and after taking pictures and editing photos he gave me some money and told me, “You need to be paid for your art,” and that day I felt like an artist but I have never felt like that. It was a feeling, like I felt like an artist.
A: I do agree that artists need to be paid for their art, and that’s why I bought your book as well and I recommend other people to buy it as well. The next question actually was, what is your favorite book and writer, but you already said so. Even if you can just list one, because it’s very hard for me to say also.
L: I can say that the book that changed me, it’s not “Petite Pays” by Gaël Faye, but “La Princesse de Clèves” of Madame de La Fayette. In the story, there was a woman who married a prince but she didn’t like the prince, she didn’t love the prince. She married that prince because the prince had good virtue, so she knows that that man will be faithful to her, and she fell in love with another prince but she didn’t want to marry that prince because she knew that he thought she was beautiful but he will not be serious with her. So as a result, she sacrificed that love for the prince that she really loved and it was a proof of virtue for me. Doing that then, and you either love someone really or you just, you’re hurt because you know that person is more serious and you have more of a vocation to do something interesting so that book helped me to do good choices and I think that book changed me, it’s the most important for me in my life actually and after I red Prévert and Small Country, this book is first.
A: I need to read that book! Now that you tell me about it, it sounds really good!
L: It’s really long, If you find it in English, it’s super good for you, but it’s long, the first thirty pages are really hard but after that, you will be good, if you resist that.
A: Yeah, for sure. Also, off topic, but what is your country of origin? And in the back of the book it says you studied in Paris of course and did you live only in Paris or another part of France?
L: So I was born in Benin, 1998, and I stayed there until I was sixteen years old and I moved because my dad was in France, he lived there and in 2009, my mom moved here to Chicago. So I was with my grandparents and uncles so my mom needed me to go to Chicago but first she wanted me to pass by Paris to stay with my dad and then come here so I needed to live there 3 years, and I lived there 4 years, because the last year, my visa was not ready. Moving to Paris was super super hard for me because it was a country that I wanted to go but when I arrived it was not like in my dreams, so I say that they lied to me a little bit (laughs) so it’s hard because when you move you’re happy because you found another beautiful place but after, in France, it’s another way to live, it’s not the same and after you start to, well I started to enjoy Paris in my fourth year living there because I started to meet people who have the same passions as me, who understand me when I say something, who seem like me, and right now I’m living here.
A: Yeah! And how do you like it? How do you like living here, It’s cold!
L: It’s good, it’s good, and cold.
A: Do you think it’s cold here more than in Paris? (laugh)
L: Uh, yeah (laughs)
A: Yeah, um I went to Paris in 2016 actually! I studied abroad there when I was in college.
L: Did you love it?
A: Yes, I loved it! I’d love to go back!
L: I want to go back too
A: Yeah, if you’re there and I’m there, we’ll go and read poetry and talk poetry!
L: Yes (giggles) I liked that city, it’s amazing.
A: Yes, there’s so much history to it and yeah it’s a great city.
L: You have something everywhere, each district looks the same, but they are not really the same. It’s different, and it’s amazing, I miss that city too.
A: Yeah, so next question is, how long have you been knowing English and do you speak any other languages besides French and English.
L: In my country, I speak fon (Gbe language), I speak that in my home, and my mom came from a place in the center of Benin, do you know where it is?
A: I do not, I’ve heard of it so many times but no, please do show me a map!
(Larry goes up to the board and actually starts to draw the southern part of Africa and its surrounding places)
L: It’s right by the Atlantic Ocean, and yes we have a beach and seafood, and the capital of Benin is Porto-Novo. Where my mom is from, Savalou, they speak Mahi, so I know how to speak it. At Porto Novo, they speak Fon, those three languages are the same, they’re not so different, so I understand it. So I speak French too and when I was in school I started to speak English so I spoke it a little bit at school. I also started to speak German, and when I moved to Paris, I continued to French, so it was really easy because it’s the official language of the country and I continued with German and English too but my English was not so good and after I graduated high school, that Summer I started to work in Pigalle basketball court, a colorful basketball court in Paris. I started to work there and there the majority of tourists that went there spoke English so I started to improve my English there. So that really helped me. It changes color every two years.
A: Wow, It must be a lot of work painting every two years.
L: Yes it is.
A: So, I do think your poetry book can help French learners, it definitely has helped me, let me show you. I’m writing all these words that I realize that I don’t know and I’m learning and still trying to understand everything.
L: I’m so happy you’re saying that because when I read Césaire, it was too hard for me. French was my language but when you read Césaire, each line, you need to take a dictionary because of words we don’t use everyday, and when I read Prévert, it was too easy, like I understood everything and I said so, I need my poetry to be for people who don’t say what they feel already but my poetry needs to be easy. Every person needs to understand it, like every child. So when you say that, I’m really touched, thank you.
A: Yeah, that’s perfect. It’s really making me not feel like French is too hard, and like I can read it. And eventually I will read it and I’ll let you know once I’m finished reading it of course, after the semester is over (laughs). Also, yeah, now we can start talking about your poetry after like twenty minutes in the interview (laughs). Okay, so why is your book titled, L’Exil?
L:You know what that means, right?
A: The exile, yes, so why did you title it L’Exil?
L: So when you go to France and you stay there and live there, you need to do your carte de séjour, it’s your resident card, it’s the same thing as the green card here. And the day that I went there, I wanted to do my resident card and one of the places was “Service d’exile” or “Service de refugee,” refugee service, and after that service, the ceiling was too high and after that part, the ceiling was low and I felt like I was in a cage, like a bird in a cage and for me it was an exile, the word just came to me. When I was at home, it was two to three years before hearing Gaël Faye’s song, the idea was there already, to call something “L’exil” And when I start to write and the title was easy, L’exil and it just came.
A: And I, I think it fits! With the poems also, the ones I read of course. Yeah, so I understand as a writer, I know sometimes I get words or phrases stuck in my head and I’m like “I need to use them!” in the future one day, so that makes a lot of sense. So how long did it take for you to complete the collection, to finish everything?
L:I started to write, so the first poem of my book, “Naufrage,” I wrote it in the train like May 2017 and I continued to write.
A: So the poems are in order?
L: Yes (giggles) but the things that I’m learning right now, I know it’s not good to do that.
A: Yes, like you need to find a way to arrange.
L: Yes, you need to class them, classify them because I learned that it was like a playlist of artists, when the inspiration comes, the artist can register the song, the first song, second song, and everything, but the first song will not be the first song of the album, so they change the order. And it’s things that I learned now and if I would have re-wrote the book, I would not do that. But for me, the naufrage, the first poem, is at a good place, for the things that I feel. I know it’s not good to do that now but I think in that order that I did, it was a feeling and you can feel an evolution in every poem. Every poem is in a good place in that book, thank you. But for another book, I would take the time to order. So I continued to write from May 2017 to the beginning of October because October was the beginning of classes at University and there I stayed so I worked all the summer to do something and it took me like five, six months to finish the whole book.
A: Wow, I can not do that (giggles)
L: The goal was not to write the book, maybe the reason why I took less time, right now if i were to do another book I would take more time, I would think, “oh is it good, not good?” You know, but a lot of reflection put into it too, because we don’t let ourselves express, it was good because I didn’t think about it, but now with the experience, I know it takes more time.
A: Yeah, I definitely agree, Yeah, also, the poem I really liked was, “Pas la même
vie,” it’s on page 8, I liked how you compared the two different lives of the privileges and the working class person, so what inspired you to write this poem? Was it the lives you found in Paris, was it in your home country?
L: I remember during the time that I wrote this poem, it was during the elections in France and the period before, one month before, it was the elections and one of the candidates was Jean-Luc Mélenchon, I really like him, because of his revolutionary ideas, and he really talked about rich people and poor people, and actually the things that are happening in France. The president who is there favorized rich people from poor people, so at the time the idea was there and I wrote it, and a few of these, I let friends of mine see the beginning of the project and one of my friends said that this poem was, well she didn’t like that poem because it was a bit cliche, between the rich and the poor. And I agreed, I felt ashamed a bit, I didn’t know that someone would actually like that poem.
A: Yeah, I mean I’m still learning French so I really like the topic, and I can’t yet judge French poetry.
L: So the feeling at the moment, I’m like “okay, good thank you!” (giggles), so tonight I’ll tell my friend that someone liked that poem (giggles)
A: Yeah, tell them! I also think it’s a really important topic that people need to talk about, that’s what makes it good.
L: Yeah, it’s a thing that people see, but don’t talk about it. I’m a student in architecture and I’m thinking of doing architecture for poor people because people who are rich have architecture and buildings but there needs to be architecture for poor people too. And I think that’s important, it’s a subject that I like to talk about. But not everyone talks about those type of things.
A: Yeah, I agree, also what I like about it, is that it’s universal, I can relate to it here in the United States, like I come from an immigrant family, my parents were immigrants and I was born here. They come from Mexico, so I also speak Spanish.
L: I want to go there!
A: You should! I’ll invite you one time!
L: And maybe the place I want to visit in South America is Costa Rica, I want to go there.
A: Yeah, it’s very beautiful, it’s really beautiful, I love being there. Yes, I see it in Mexico also, and I’m remembering this one time I was in the city of Guadalajara, the second biggest city in Mexico and I was waiting, I felt really bad after this, I was waiting for a tour bus, and we tourists are just waiting there for the bus to arrive, and a little boy came up to me and he gave me this sticker that’s right here, and he put it on my hand and I was like, what is this? I noticed the little boy was dressed in dirty clothes and I realized, he goes to every person they see and they give them the sticker so they can get money and that made me really sad, because you know, kids should be in school and not out trying to get money like that. The sticker is now in my back phone and it says, “Eres mi ilusion, You are my illusion.” It’s like a little Valentine’s day heart stickers but that’s the one he put in my hand.
L: Yeah, that kind of people exist and maybe we’re living in a world that isn’t a different world, but in our personal world, it’s not the same as theirs. We live in the same world but we can not imagine their history and this is what I want to do, I write it and people are like that and exist and if you don’t know that you need to know that.
A: In Paris, I actually noticed a lot of refugees and a lot of people sleeping in the streets.
L: Yes, sometimes one thing that I liked to do, well I was a student so I don't always have money every time on me and I need to save it, but sometimes I go to markets and buy food and give it to homeless people who need it. There are people in Chicago tonight who don’t know what they’re going to eat and maybe we go home and our fridge is full of food.
A: Yeah, like you were saying, we live in the same world but we don’t live the same life. Yeah, so tell your friend I liked that poem (giggles) also, the other poem was “L’etranger.”
L: You liked that poem? Andrew (Angie’s French Professor) said that he liked that one.
A: Yes, he actually read it to us when he introduced your book to our class, that was the first poem that he read, he read the first lines
A: I really like the line when you said “Pourquoi cette peur de l’autre?” I really like that, and I just, there are people I know who I can throw this poem to.
L: Yeah, it’s a problem, we live in the same society together but sometimes we are scared of others because they don’t look like us and that’s a big problem. I wrote a poem the last time, it’s not in this book, but I did an allusion of people who are colorblind and I think we need to be colorblind people because we judge people for what they look like and not for who they are really and the reference of the poem was one of my friends who was colorblind and when you have two different colors, you judge them, maybe you prefer one more than another, but when he looked, he sees the same thing. So he didn’t judge the colors, but he judged them by which one writes good or not. So you don’t need to judge color for the cover but the things that they can do if the person is a liar or if he steals stuff, stuff like that. He’s not a good person, and you need to judge people for that not for their color.
A: I really like that poem, so if you have another friend who said that they didn’t like that poem, then you can tell them that I liked it.
L: No nobody said that (giggles)
A: Oh good!, good! And I really liked “Acceptez-nous ainsi” what does ainsi mean?
L: Like, “we are?” It’s hard to say, like, when you say, le telephone est ici, “the phone is here,” kinda like, “accept us here,” like “we are”
A: Okay, because I looked it up and my translation gave me “Accept us as well,” like accept everyone. I think that’s kinda poetic, the many translations you can get out of those words honestly, so I really liked it and Andrew really liked it.
L: So where are you in the book?
A: I’m actually skipping around, like I’m looking at poems that I like, like social justice related, that’s why I went deep into translating.
L: So I got a question for you, I’m planning to translate it to English and you are reading it, I need you to give me feedback of what you think about it, because I hope to translate it in English and since I wrote this until now, I learned a lot more things so I’m thinking about a translation, like should I leave it like this or reword? So when you read it and you think “that word is not good” don’t be scared to let me know, or angry.
A: I won’t be angry, I’ll be direct (laughs)
L: Yes, direct, I really like feedback because I think that all poems are not finished when it comes to their subject of discussion. It’s something that needs to be analyzed, talked about. So that’s what I wanted to ask you.
A: Absolutely, definitely! If you need any help with any words translating into English, feel free to ask me, seriously. We can always discuss words, like I like your version, but we can also see “oh yeah this word sounds better than this one” and so on, there’s a lot of potential. So also, I wanted to talk about one of the topics in my blog, which is social justice, and I do plan to write more posts in the future about social justice and about different protests. I’ve written about protests here in Chicago in the past. Have you ever been to any protests in France or anywhere?
L: Yeah, I marched like two times, I really like that. The one thing, sometimes I go there because I like it and people are there with you and they think the same thing and it’s really cool because sometimes I talk about those kind of things with my friends and they are like “oh you’re crazy because you’re a communist” or something like that and they’re scared about that, like “oh you don’t think like everybody else” so when you go to protest, you feel powerful. So yeah, I like that, I participated in two protests. At school, I have debates with my friends about stuff like that. Try to convince them to think the same thing like me.
A: Yeah, I love going to protests, which is ironic because you’re protesting about something bad but you’re having fun at the same time and it’s kinda funny.
L: Yeah, one of my favorite artists, Youssoupha, he says, “It’s not because you protest for ideas, that your ideas are good,” so maybe the things we protest for, is not good stuff, but we believe in that and we need to march for that. He has simple music and he’s a good singer.
A: I need to read a lot and listen to a lot of artists
L: Me too, it’s an everyday fight, everytime when I wake up and when I don’t read, I feel a little bit bad because I say, it’s not good what I’m doing. You need to read to be more intelligent. It’s a duty to read. It’s a duty to read and know more, because people that were there before you did a lot of things for the world that you live in now and you have the duty to continue to do the things that they did. You have that duty. It’s like an action of respect for them. So you need to continue. You can read everything, but you need to continue to read as much as you can. Don’t ever say that you can not finish learning, you learn everyday. You have two categories, you have one person here and another. The first person is the one who knows everything, he doesn’t need to learn more, he knows everything, and the second person doesn’t want to learn because he knows nothing, and he will not know nothing, and you need to be here in the middle. You need to continue. Sometimes I go to fast food places and I’m in front of the menu, and I ask, “Larry are you doing good stuff, like with fifteen dollars, you can buy a book and read it.” I’ll say, you can buy something much cheaper and buy books in Amazon. Don’t feed your stomach, feed your spirit. And then, I don’t buy anything and I go to eat at home and buy a book. (laughs). The things I’m doing right now, every time I need to go to fast food, I need to buy a book at the place.
A: Yeah they don’t sell books with hamburgers, I wish they did (laughs) I would go there all the time.
L: Sometimes when I’m at a bookstore, I’m like “ohh I don’t want to buy it, so let’s go to eat!” (laughs)
A: Yeah, I love reading as well. That’s why I majored in English and Writing. So, the poem that really tore me apart, that really made me want to cry was “Qui est-il?” The last words were the ones that killed me, “Je ne sais ce qu’est un père / En serais-je un bon?” “But will I be a good parent”
L: Because, do you have problem with your parents or?
A: No, I don’t personally, but I know people who have that and that’s why it made me emotional.
L: So, this is the first time people asked me that and I never talk about it, but I will talk to you about it. It’s not a problem but sometimes I feel like my dad didn’t understand me, a lot of things and also how I see how the parents of my friends be with them, was different how my dad is with me, but my mom is different, so just my dad. I asked myself, so how can you be a good parent? Because nobody teaches you how to be a good dad, and it’s one of the singers- Stromae, do you know Stromae?
A: I DO KNOW STROMAE!
L: The song, “papaoutai?”
A: Yes, now I’m making that connection!
L: Yes, so he says that everybody knows how to make babies, but no one knows how to be a daddy. And yeah, they don’t teach that. So that was a question, I don’t know, maybe you need to have a bad dad to be a good dad? Or maybe you need to be a good dad to be a good dad? I don’t know.
A: Yeah, I love that song! It’s so beautiful!
L: And he and Gaël Faye, they have the same origins, him and Stromae, they need to do a song together, but Stromae didn’t want to because he was sick so the story is that he went to Africa to do a tour and they gave him a malaria shot and the shot didn’t work well so he was sick and had a depression and stuff like that. So that didn’t do it because of that, but actually Stromae doesn’t want to sing too much, he prefers to produce songs, he prefers to do beats for songs, but I saw this morning that he did a song with a group but I like it a little bit. So maybe he will do it one day. I met Gaël Faye in Chicago one month ago and he said that maybe they will do something like that.
A: I really do hope so, I don’t know if Stromae will come to Chicago but I want to see him. I barely started listening to his music so I don’t know too much about any French concerts here but yeah I definitely want to go. Do you also know Indila?
Indila? Yes!
A: Yes, your poetry also reminds me of her music. I know she’s done songs with a couple of people, but I really like her music, have you heard of her song, “Derniere Danse?”
L: I’ve never heard her music but I know about her.
A: Yes, and that song, it’s you need to listen to it (giggles), she’s French but I think her origins are Indian and from other countries too. She’s really good and there’s this one line in the song, “Je suis une enfant du monde.” “I’m a child of the world” and I just really like that line, it says so much even though it’s little. So reading your poetry, it reminded me of that song, and now Stromae.
L: It’s all connections everywhere!
A: Yeah! Connections! In the Francophone community! Yeah, so that’s everything, is there anything else you would like to add about your poetry book or anything?
L: I’m still learning and still improving myself.
A: And you’re 20 years old so you have a long way to go, you’re already doing so much.
L: Thank you and I’m a person who wants to do stuff quickly, very quickly, and I don’t know now but people say that sometimes it’s not a good thing, to take your time to do stuff and I’m taking my time to do something better actually, and yes I’m working on this but it will take time. And for you, if you finish reading and really like it, talk about it to people at your job, maybe they will like it.
A: Yeah, for sure!
L: The most important word of this week was “Connection!” CONNEXION!
A: Yes, that’s gonna be the next title of your book! (laughs) “Le Connexion!”
L: I’m thinking of the title, but yes, maybe connection! Of one word, and I will write, “to Angelica” (laughs)
A: So last question, my blog is called the Macaron Raccoon and I talk about food and pastries, what is your favorite pastry?
L: So, I will say something like, you will not like this but I don’t like American pastries, and when I say I don’t like something it’s not definitive, I’m still open to it, to someone who will give me a counter argument or teach me about it.
A: I need to show you Mexican pastries!
L: Yes, but American, Dunkin donuts, no (laughs)
A: Yeah, I just buy coffee there (laughs)
L: It’s part of fast food, but until now, I haven’t found a good patisserie but I love patisseries and my favorite is the flan.
A: Oh! Flan! Mexicans make flans too!
L: It’s one of the best culinary experiences that I had in my life. It was at my friend’s house, they’re Portuguese and they got flan and they asked if I wanted to eat some, and I said I don’t like the texture, how it looked, and when I tasted it, it was delicious.
A: If you like flan, I know bakeries you’re going to like, and I think you’ll like Mexican pastries! They’re really good!
L: Let me know and this time I will not buy a book, I will go to eat (laughs)
A: Yeah and so we can continue talking about the translation and we can get Mexican pastries too!
L: Yeah when you want and if I’m free I’ll let you know!
